Waking Up and Smelling the Coffee
Thursday, November 16, 2023
This is what I woke up to this morning, and what I’m grateful to wake up to almost every morning. It’s a Kate Bush coffee mug full of coffee and a glass full of water. My husband brings them to me (sometimes the coffee is in a Prince coffee mug) and sits with me and then together, we wake up. Sometimes we talk about things. What our plans are for the day. Something the cats or dog did. The state of democracy in America. Shoes. Plants. Consumer credit card debt.
Sometimes we’re tired and silent. Michael will lay back and stretch and I will creak and groan and whine about having to get up. Lily invariably tries to nuzzle him while she purrs loud enough for the next door neighbor to hear. Maggie will get in the same spot in my lap and expect my full attention and many ear scratches and tummy rubs. Lucy will do something clumsy and interrupt the conversation or the quiet, which we always forgive. And Pete will join us when Pete is good and ready to join us.
Then when it’s time, he’ll get up and head to the kitchen, and I’ll get up and head to the shower, and then we have our days and try our best, which looks different all the time.
I’ve always cherished the intimacy of our morning moments. They make me feel safe. They remind me that I am loved, not judged. And I’ve gotta admit, it’s pretty nice when the coffee and hydrating water magically appear.
He’s a keeper, and I’ll keep him around for as long as he’ll have me.
